The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary » Horace Broadnaxhttp://thebuckeyebattlecry.com
An Ohio State blog for the Buckeye fan in all of us.Sun, 02 Aug 2015 18:25:44 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3Buckeyes Eliminate Savannah State 85-45http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-basketball/buckeyes-eliminate-savannah-state-85-45.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=buckeyes-eliminate-savannah-state-85-45
http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-basketball/buckeyes-eliminate-savannah-state-85-45.html#commentsThu, 13 Dec 2012 01:54:35 +0000http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/?p=28750The Buckeyes came out on fire tonight against Savannah State, routing the Tigers 85-45 in Columbus. In particular, the Buckeyes came out clicking in all phases of the game, and really made it tough for the Tigers to operate on the offensive end. DeShaun Thomas led all scorers with 22 points, despite scoring only 1 […]

]]>The Buckeyes came out on fire tonight against Savannah State, routing the Tigers 85-45 in Columbus. In particular, the Buckeyes came out clicking in all phases of the game, and really made it tough for the Tigers to operate on the offensive end. DeShaun Thomas led all scorers with 22 points, despite scoring only 1 in the first half. He was joined by LaQuinton Ross (13), Shannon Scott (12), and Evan Ravenel (10) in double figures from the Buckeyes, while the Tigers only saw Arnold Louis (14) break the 10 barrier.

I definitely want to give a shout out to Evan Ravenel’s 10 points and career high 9 rebounds. Unfortunately, he still doesn’t have a double double, but it’s only a matter of time. I’d also like to mention Alex Rogers who saw decent playing time in the last 4 minutes, and Jake Lorbach who scored his first points in a Buckeye uniform when he connected on a free throw at the end of the game.

Savannah State never really challenged the Buckeyes during the course of this game. Ohio State opened with a strong offensive showing, with DeShaun Thomas scoring 21 of the Buckeyes 42 points in the first half. OSU dominated on the glass at 44-18 for the game, not surprisingly considering SSU’s height disadvantage. The Bucks also did a good job of finding the open shooter and connecting on it.

I’ve gotta give the Tigers credit for coming out of the break with a little more fire and effort. The sudden change in pace seemed to catch the Buckeyes off guard at first before they regained their traction. Thomas struggled with his shooting in the second, but it was more than made up for by several others, including LaQuinton Ross, who scored all of his points during the second stanza.
We say it each week, and it remains true – there is still a lot of work this team has to do before they’re ready for Big Ten play. However, they are getting better every single game. The development is obvious in many places, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t be ready to take on the rest of the B1G come January.

Positives:

1. Free Throw Shooting has improved dramatically. I’ve waited a few games to see if it would persist, but our free throw shooting made a big turnaround after the first few games of the season. Amir Williams in particular is doing a great job from the charity stripe. That’s an important skill for any big man to have, but particularly in this offense.

2. Three point shooting. The Bucks shot 70% (7-10) from beyond the arc in the first half. That’s just about the best shooting we’ve seen from this team from range since Jon Diebler was here. Don’t get your hopes up for this to stick around for long, but it is proof that this team is capable of doing it – when they move the defense around with their passing at least.

3. Front court defensive play and rebounding. I can’t stress it enough, the big guys are fantastic defenders down low, and they do a great job controlling the glass on the miss. This was particularly true on the offensive glass tonight, where the Bucks were able to get plenty of second chance looks.

4. DeShaun Thomas. He’s been struggling with his shooting the last few games, but he finally found it, and great effort on the glass, for this one tonight. Someday, he’s going to put together two complete halves and the scoreboard is going to absolutely explode.

Negatives:

1. Focus among the young players. Ross, Thompson, and Scott were not entirely locked in today. They missed a few good looks and committed a handful of bad turnovers. They need to treat the Savannah State’s the same way they would treat the Duke’s. Put in maximum effort at all times and it becomes second nature.

2. Shot selection. It’s not too surprising, but the Buckeyes still struggle a little with their shot selection. While they’re much better about passing the ball around, they still have times that they force a bad shot early in the shot clock against the opponents half-court defense.

3. Craft’s scoring. Where did Craft’s game go? He breaks 20 early in the season, and tonight he struggles to even get the ball in the bucket. Heck, he’s 7-33 for the last few games. At least his passing vision and stealing skills are still there, which his teammates were able to make use of.

The Buckeyes will next face UNC Asheville on Saturday, December 15th in Value City Arena. You’ll be able to see that game at Noon on the Big Ten Network.

]]>http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-basketball/buckeyes-eliminate-savannah-state-85-45.html/feed0BBN Basketball LiveBlog: Savannah Statehttp://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-basketball/ohio-state-basketball/bbn-basketball-liveblog-savannah-state.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bbn-basketball-liveblog-savannah-state
http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-basketball/ohio-state-basketball/bbn-basketball-liveblog-savannah-state.html#commentsWed, 12 Dec 2012 21:00:51 +0000http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/?p=28745The Buckeyes are back in action tonight versus the Tigers of Savannah State. Joining us as usual – and special thanks to all of them for making these such a great success – are the other members of the Buckeye Blogger Network. Make sure to stop by their place and say, “hey”: Buckeye Ninja, Our […]

]]>http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-basketball/ohio-state-basketball/bbn-basketball-liveblog-savannah-state.html/feed0Pregame Glance: Savannah Statehttp://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-basketball/pregame-glance-savannah-state.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pregame-glance-savannah-state
http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-basketball/pregame-glance-savannah-state.html#commentsWed, 12 Dec 2012 17:25:07 +0000http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/?p=28613The Ohio State men continue their stretch of games in which they should win when they face the Savannah State Tigers out of the Mid-Eastern Conference tonight at home. The Buckeyes are coming off an easy win against Long Beach State. Savannah State, however, is coming off an 10 day layoff after losing their conference […]

]]>The Ohio State men continue their stretch of games in which they should win when they face the Savannah State Tigers out of the Mid-Eastern Conference tonight at home. The Buckeyes are coming off an easy win against Long Beach State. Savannah State, however, is coming off an 10 day layoff after losing their conference opener to Norfolk State on December 1st.

Silly Tiger, Savannah's not a state.

School:

Savannah State University

Location:

Savanna, Georgia

Founded:

1890

Student Population:

4,552

School Type:

Public

Division:

NCAA Division 1

Conference:

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC)

Stadium:

Tiger Arena

Seating:

6,000

Opened:

2000

Head Coach:

Horace Broadnax

Experience

8th Year

The Tigers are 5-4 but they struggle to score points. Seniors Rashad Hassan and Preston Blackman are the only two players that average double digits. Hassan’s 13.2 PPG (only 15 points total in his last two) leads the team and Blackman is second with 11.0. This will be the first of many hurdles for Savannah State because the Buckeyes oppose this with four players that average double digits. Deshaun Thomas is leading the team with 20.6 PPG followed by Lenzelle Smith and Aaron Craft with 11.0 PPG.

Another key aspect of the game that the Tigers will have to overcome is their turnovers. Hassan and Blackman combine for 6.7 turnovers a game while the team averages 17.6 a game. Ohio State averages 7 steals per game with Shannon Scott (1.9) and Craft (1.6) leading the way. These two key ingredients could be a recipe for this game to be over barely after getting started.

Coach Matta will be looking for some consistency and equality from his team on the offensive end. There is a huge disparity in scoring after you get past Thomas. Ohio State can’t rely on just one guy to do it all for them and need someone else to step up and be “that” guy. We have seen flashes of this from Shannon Scott (who has been great coming off the bench) and Lenzelle Smith. In a game of this caliber, Matta should be able to play around with his lineups again and see if he can find that player to bring him consistency on the offensive end.

This is the second time this season that Savannah State will face a ranked opponent after losing 58-40 to Florida earlier in the year. As for this match up, this will be the first time that the Tigers and Buckeyes will meet and Ohio State hopes that it will be their 34th consecutive win against an unranked non-conference foe.

The Buckeyes will face the Tigers in Value City Arena Tonight (December 12th) at 7:00 PM Eastern Time. You’ll be able to see that game on the Big Ten Network.